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Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Some might say it was a good day for Saudi Basic Industries Corp, the world’s biggest petrochemicals maker.

When it announced on Wednesday that third quarter net profits fell 23 per cent from a year ago its share price in Saudi Arabia rose 1.4 per cent. Clearly, the numbers weren’t as bad as had been expected in the light of plunging world prices for petrochemicals.

Sabic reported earnings of 6.31bn riyals ($1.7bn), beating the average 5.84bn riyal estimate of six analysts polled by Bloomberg.

Saudi Arabia's bourse climbed for a third straight session on Wednesday after Saudi Basic Industries Corp's (SABIC) estimate-beating earnings lifted sentiment, while the performance of other Gulf bourses was mixed.
Shares in SABIC rose 1.4 percent to close at 90 riyals. Its quarterly profit dropped 23 percent to 6.3 billion riyals ($1.68 billion), slightly above the average forecast of 6.01 billion riyals by nine analysts polled by Reuters.
Analysts said SABIC's profits came in higher than estimates due to income generated by providing a polycarbonate technology license to the China-based Tianjin project by its SABIC Innovative Plastics unit.

Saeed al-Mutairi, a bespectacled 27-year-old Saudi Arabian technical college graduate with a diploma in IT support, can finally afford to marry after two years looking for a job.
"Now I'm saving enough to get married and my fiancee is very happy," said Mutairi, who started work two months ago as a cashier at the newest outlet in Riyadh of Jarir Bookstores, which is part of Jarir Marketing Co, Saudi Arabia's largest listed retailer.
A personal consumption boom in Saudi Arabia is lifting retailers such as Jarir, which sells electronics, books, art
materials and office supplies.

Industries Qatar’s decision last month to increase the amount of shares foreigners can buy in it is raising speculation that more Doha-listed companies will follow the lead of the petrochemicals maker.

The company raised its foreign ownership limit in September to 12.25 per cent from 7.5 per cent, it said in a statement on Sunday, as it released its earnings results. The shares rallied strongly the following day and were the most traded on the Doha stock market.

“This will lead to more companies opening up,” says Tariq Qaqish, deputy head of asset management at Al Mal Capital in Dubai. “I’m sure this had the blessing of the government.”

Villa selling prices increased by 23 per cent in Dubai year-on-year in September, while at the other end of the scale the selling price of apartments in Abu Dhabi fell by 13 per cent, according to real estate data provider Reidin.com.

Apartments did much better in Dubai than Abu Dhabi with prices up by 5.7 per cent, although that still fell a long way short of the surge in Dubai villa prices. There are far less villas available than apartments, particularly in established communities and new arrivals in Dubai are chasing these prices up. Owners get almost daily calls from agents desperate to find new supply.

Dubai's bourse gives back early-session gains and slips from a 24-week high after hitting a technical resistance,
while Abu Dhabi's measure ends at its highest level in 14 months.
Dubai's index ends 0.1 percent lower at 1,644 points. It climbed to an intra-day high of 1,656 points, near the resistance of 1,660 points.
Emaar Properties is the main drag, slipping 0.5 percent. Dubai Investments sheds 1.2 percent and
Emirates NBD slips 0.3 percent.

Abu Dhabi's Union National Bank posted a 7-percent rise in third-quarter net profit on Wednesday, beating analysts' expectations, as the lender reversed losses from financial instruments during the quarter.

UNB made a net profit of 528.2 million dirhams ($143.8 million) for the quarter ended September 2012, compared with 493.8 million dirhams in the prior-year period, it said in a statement on the Abu Dhabi bourse.

The earnings beat average analysts' forecast of 446.9 million dirhams for the quarter.

Syria's stock market is making emergency preparations to allow the exchange to be operated remotely as fighting continues to rage in the capital and threatens to shut down normal business activity completely.

Officials at the bourse in Damascus are buying batteries, computers and other essential portable infrastructure equipment in an attempt to ensure trading will continue in the event of a large-scale emergency, such as an aerial bombardment or military attack.

"We are living not knowing if we can come back tomorrow. Our job is to offer our services to the investors and go back home. It is hard watching things slowly deteriorating and dying," said Anas Jawish, the listing and operations director at the Damascus Securities Exchange (DSE). "This is our work, our life, slowly vanishing away."

The aviation industry contributes more than Dh145 billion (Dh39.47bn) to the UAE economy, or 14.7 per cent of GDP, justifying the country's huge investment in airports and airline networks, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) said yesterday.

Tony Tyler, the chief executive of the Iata, said airlines in the Arabian Gulf had been the "catalyst" for transforming and rapidly expanding the region's economies.

"Governments here understand the power of connectivity to drive economies, and with this understanding governments have created a business-friendly environment for air transport with low taxes and world-class infrastructure." said Mr Tyler, speaking at the World Passenger Symposium (WPS) in Abu Dhabi.

Microsoft maybe a software giant today, but it started from a small great idea by innovative entrepreneurship. Microsoft would not have become a multinational corporation if it was not funded by different sources of investment that were available to fund ideas and start-ups. Had Bill Gates not been able to secure the finances required, the brilliant ideas of Microsoft might have disappeared from our civilisation and the technology revolution that was empowered by Microsoft might never have happened. This could be the case with the GCC as well, where many young entrepreneurs hold brilliant ideas, but are short of funds. As time passes, these ideas go down the drain. Financing ideas? It is something new for the GCC market. Banks and investors want to finance something that they can see, touch and feel. They call it something concrete. Yes, indeed, they are ready to finance concrete.

Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said on Tuesday that the Abu Dhabi-based airline has been approached by “all Indian carriers” for the possibility of buying stake.
“All the Indian carriers have approached us and we continue to evaluate the impact of FDI [Foreign Direct Investment],” Hogan told reporters Tuesday on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi.
When asked how many airlines, Hogan said, “quite a number.”